The Gift of Scarves
by apriiil
Summary: Tumblr Request: "A scarf, a present wrapped poorly, a kiss." One-shot.


_**A/N:** This was a request I got from Josh ( itsajoshyboy on tumblr and on here) a while back that ended up sitting in my drafts, half written, for way too long. I finally managed to get the last part finished today, and, well... I really love these two dorks, even if I don't write for them very often at all, and I wanted to post it here as well._

 _The prompt for this particular fic was: "A scarf, a present wrapped very poorly, a kiss"._

 _I hope you like it as well, and please remember to review if you did!_

* * *

Bickslow had never been very good at picking out gifts for people, so it was probably part of the reason he didn't like Christmas time all that much. His team and Laxus (and everyone else for that matter) had stopped expecting decent or practical presents from him over the years, so for the most part, Bickslow just hadn't tried. He usually just disappointed people when he bothered trying to get them something, mostly because his tastes were rather abstract compared to everyone else's, and contrary to popular belief, Bickslow hated disappointing people.

But then Juvia came along - or more accurately, his _relationship_ with Juvia came along - and Bickslow found himself wanting to get his girlfriend a present that Christmas, since it was their first together, and, well… It had taken him a long time to get there, but he really loved her. And since she wasn't too disappointed in him, even though she'd had to accept that he wasn't always the type of person who could take her out on all manner of fancy and romantic dates, the last thing Bickslow wanted was for Juvia to be disappointed about not receiving a Christmas present from him.

He didn't want her thinking that he didn't care about her, because the truth was that he did. A lot. He just… hadn't really said it yet.

Anyway, the point was that he wanted to be a good boyfriend for a change and get her a present. So he did. Eventually. Admittedly, he'd had a lot of trouble finding a present for Juvia (it definitely had something to do with how he'd refused to ask for help, because he'd wanted to be able to do it on his own), but he did eventually find one. It certainly wasn't the greatest Christmas present in the world, but… it wasn't the worst either.

Well, he hoped it wasn't, at least.

* * *

It was bright and early on Christmas Eve morning when Bickslow was tiredly answering the door in his usual pyjamas, no matter the weather - his blue and purple penguin boxer shorts. He was grumpy until he opened his door and found Juvia waiting outside; Bickslow could never be annoyed by seeing his girlfriend, even if he would prefer to be asleep right then.

"Juvia," he said, just a little bit surprised to see her, of course. "Hey."

She smiled brightly up at him before greeting him politely, "Good morning, Bickslow."

The Seith mage invited her in quickly, lest the poor woman turn to ice out in the hall. He scratched the back of his head once he was standing in the middle of his cramped living space. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why Juvia was visiting him that morning. "So, uh… As much as I love you being here and all…" he began nervously. "Why are you here? I mean, it's 7-freakin'-a.m., Juvs."

Juvia stared down to her feet as she began to nervously press her toes of one foot into the floor and turn in an arc. Bashfully, she answered, "W-Well, Juvia knows Bickslow doesn't like the holidays very much, but… But Juvia really wanted to get Bickslow a present…" Her arms had been behind her back the entire time, but it wasn't until she brought them before her and extended the neatly wrapped box in the festive paper to the Seith mage.

"Oh!" In hindsight, Bickslow knew he should've expected Juvia to get him something, just because he knew how his girlfriend liked to get people presents, even if they were just small ones. But, of course, Bickslow took the gift graciously and with a wide grin before stepping forward just to press a soft kiss to the water woman's temple. "You're too nice to me, Juvs. You really didn't have to get me anything though."

"Juvia knows that…"

Bickslow was about to sit down on the end of his sofa and open up his Christmas present when he remembered his own present he'd been waiting to give to Juvia. "Oh yeah, that reminds me!" he exclaimed. Juvia just watched in confusion as he suddenly shot up from the lounge and rushed down the hall, sliding right into his bedroom with his socks on the hardwood floor. He came out just a moment later carrying a present roughly the same size as the other, but it wasn't wrapped half as neatly as Juvia had done. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, he offered the poorly wrapped, lumpy present to his girlfriend and said, "I got you something as well. It's not much, but I thought you might like it. And, uh… just ignore how bad I wrapped it. I'm not very good at wrapping presents…"

Juvia laughed softly as she sat down with Bickslow on the lounge. "Juvia doesn't mind," she assured him.

With both of them holding their presents in their laps and not knowing who should go first, Bickslow suggested, "How about we open them together?" And with a nod, Juvia agreed and they both began to tear through the paper on each of their gifts.

They got them open at the same time as well, and as they both held up their presents and turned back to each other, they couldn't help but begin to laugh. For Bickslow's present for Juvia had been a beige cashmere scarf, and Juvia's gift for Bickslow had been a blue and purple scarf she'd knitted herself.

If Bickslow had known Juvia was knitting _him_ a scarf, he sure as hell wouldn't have bought one for her. And if Juvia had known Bickslow was planning on buying her one, she wouldn't have made him one either.

"Well, uh… I don't know about you, but I really fucking love this."

Juvia had been about to apologise for accidentally giving Bickslow the same gift (well, sort of), but now she was just watching in shock as he lifted up the scarf and rubbed his cheek on the material.

"It's so _soft_!" he said. "I love it!"

"…You… You do?"

Bickslow nodded as he quickly scooted closer to the woman just to wrap the scarf around both of their necks. "Of course I do!" And he did. He really did. And he _really_ loved scarves, even if he didn't have a reason to wear them very often. "Although… If I'd known you were making me a scarf, I wouldn't have gotten you one as well. I can return it, if you want. Get you something else."

Juvia shook her head. "Nope! Juvia loves her scarf as well."

"Well, I'm glad you do." His grin was almost infectious by that point, and he couldn't stop himself from leaning forward again to lightly press his lips to hers before whispering, "Merry Christmas, Juvia."


End file.
